| Commonwealth of Florida Mancomunidad de Florida Timeline: Unknown | ||||||
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| Anthem: "I vow to thee, my country" |
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| Location of Florida (green)
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| Capital | St. Augustine | |||||
| Official languages | English • Spanish | |||||
| Demonym | Floridian • Floridan | |||||
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy | |||||
| - | Monarch | Charles III | ||||
| - | Governor General | Harry Jones | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Maria McHarrison | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| - | Upper house | Senate | ||||
| - | Lower house | House of Commons | ||||
| Independence from Great Britain | ||||||
| - | Granted autonomy | 1 September 1903 | ||||
| - | Statute of Westminster | 11 December 1931 | ||||
| - | Florida Act | 5 May 1986 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2022 estimate | 21,538,320 | ||||
| Currency | Floridian dollar (FLD) |
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| Drives on the | Right | |||||
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Florida, officially the Commonwealth of Florida (Spanish: Mancomunidad de Florida), is a sovereign country located in North America. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by the United States, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to the south by the Straits of Florida and Cuba. Its capital is St. Augustine and the most populous city is Jacksonville. The Miami metropolitan area, with a population of almost 6.2 million, is the most populous urban area in Florida; other urban conurbations with over one million people are Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville.
Various Native American groups have inhabited Florida for at least 14,000 years. In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first known European to make landfall, calling the region La Florida for its lush greenery and the Easter season (Pascua Florida in Spanish). Florida subsequently became the first area in southern North America to be permanently settled by Europeans, with the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, founded in 1565, being the oldest continuously inhabited city. Florida was then handed over to Britain in 1763 after the Seven Years' War, where it was divided into two colonies, East and West Florida - it remained like this until 1847, when after a reorganisation, the two colonies were combined into the Province of Florida.
In 1903, the British government granted Florida dominion status, and was officially granted full autonomy in 1931 with the passing of the Statute of Westminster - it gained full independence in terms of constitution in 1986 with the passing of the Florida Act, which severed British control over Florida. In 2017, after a referendum was held on the topic, a new flag was adopted to replace the British ensign flag.